Integrating Pets into Your Emergency Plan

What is the PETS Act?

Images of abandoned animals, as well as the knowledge that many individuals and families refused to evacuate when they found that they couldn’t take their pets with them spurred legislators into passing the legislation, which was then signed by President George W. Bush.

The law (P.L. 109–308, 2006), proposed by Congressman Tom Lantos and Senator Chris Shays, and which had bipartisan support, requires states that receive disaster funds to have plans for the safe evacuation and treatment of animals. FEMA will reimburse some of those costs. There has been a range of success in implementing disaster plans for pets since then.

According to the website of the Animal Legal & Historical Center (ALHC), over 30 states have adopted either a law that deals with disaster planning and pets or have promulgated administrative plans on the subject. For specific information about states that have passed laws about animal welfare during disasters, go here.

The ALHC notes that the following states have not enacted laws or administrative plans and will not produce a link when clicked: AK, AR, DE, IA, KS, KY, MI, MS, MO, MT, ND, OH, SD, UT, WV, and WI.

State planning policies range from California’s full integration of emergency planning in its program, to Massachusetts’s set of guidelines. The California Animal Response Emergency System (CARES) is an operational guidance to assist with all aspects of animal care and control in the event of a disaster or emergency. In addition, CARES provides resources for the public, for animal businesses, for shelters, and for emergency planners. CARES is structured in accordance with the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS). Learn more about CARES here.

In the words of Dr. David Schwarz, DVM, of the State of Massachusetts Animal Response Team (SMART) non-governmental organization, “Any time you establish a shelter for people, you must have plans to shelter animals. It’s not only the law; it’s essential to people’s safety. We know that 21 percent of evacuation failures occur in households with pets.”

Dr. Schwarz noted in a recent talk that animal advocates are using the federal law to encourage, cajole, and wheedle state, county, and local governments into incorporating animal care into their emergency operations plans (EOPs).

However, resilient communities do more than wait for government officials to offer support and resources for families and individuals and their pets. It’s essential that all families have their own Emergency Preparedness Plan for their whole family, including their pets. Make sure you have one!

For more information about why citizens fail to evacuate, including presence of pets, go here.

FEMA resources and suggestions can be found here. A full-color brochure can be found here.